SUPER BOWL

SUPER BOWL; Front and Center for Front 5 in Bills' Game Plan

By TIMOTHY W. SMITH,

Published: January 27, 1994

ATLANTA, Jan. 26—
It took about three seconds for Thurman Thomas to surmise just what it would take for him to duplicate the 186-yard, 3-touchdown rushing performance he had last week against Kansas City in the game against Dallas this Sunday.

"It's not up to me," he said today. "It's up to my offensive line."

And with that, Thomas, a multiple threat as a quick, shifty runner and sure-handed receiver out of the backfield, deftly sidestepped a thorny question and loaded a boulder the size of Mount Rushmore onto the shoulders of his front five for the game this weekend.

But the way that they have played through the playoffs, they might be able to carry the burden and help Thomas do something that he hasn't done since the Bills' first Super Bowl: rush for over 100 yards.

Thomas had 135 yards on 15 carries against the Giants in Super Bowl XXV. The next year in Super Bowl XXVI, Thomas had 13 yards on 10 carries against the Redskins. And last year in the 52-17 loss to the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVII, Thomas had 19 yards on 11 carries. But the Bills fell behind so quickly and turned over the ball so often that Thomas was rendered virtually useless against Dallas.

They don't want that to happen again. This is not the same group that played in last year's Super Bowl. The biggest difference is that Will Wolford, the Pro Bowl left tackle, signed with the Colts as an unrestricted free agent. So, now they go with John Fina at left tackle, Glenn Parker at left guard, Kent Hull at center, John Davis at right guard and Howard Ballard at right tackle. Parker has replaced Jim Ritcher, who started last year's Super Bowl at left guard.

Parker was asked to characterize the offensive line.

"Well, if you had to pick a word, 'big eaters,' " he said.

Maybe that is why in lieu of the Rolex watches that the Dallas running back Emmitt Smith gave his offensive linemen, Thomas decided to go in a different direction to reward his blockers.

"He gave us a roast," said right tackle Howard Ballard.

Like a Yankee pot roast?

"No, a roast," Ballard said. "Like with people that get together to tell jokes about you."

Earlier this season the the offensive line didn't have the Buffalo offensive line coaches rolling in the aisles. First they had to replace Wolford. They chose Fina, a first-round draft pick out of Arizona in 1992.

"I was a little skeptical about losing Wolford," Hull said. "In our offense, the left tackle is probably the toughest job. We throw a lot. You're blocking the best pass rusher, week in and week out. My hat's off to John Fina. He's done a heck of a job. He was a center last year. That's a big step going from center to left tackle.

"He faced some of the best pass rushers in training camp. He passed every test. Derrick Thomas, Pat Swilling, Chris Doleman. Those are Pro Bowl players. He passed the test on all those. I wasn't worried one bit when the season started."

But then the Bills had some injuries and Parker played both tackle and guard. He wasn't comfortable because of all the shuffling and in the last five games of the season, the team put him at left guard. Hull said the group has gotten better since it has become more stable.

The five are definitely coming off their finest performance of the season. The Chiefs used a defense designed to take away the Bills' passing attack. So the Bills coaches changed the blocking scheme to take advantage of the fact that Kansas City had just one linebacker on the field. One result was 186 yards rushing for Thomas.

"Last week we ran a lot on the corners," Hull said. "We got on our primaries pretty good. I don't know if you can be successful doing that against the Cowboys. Their team speed is incredible. They run well. That makes it awfully hard to do those types of things." Cowboy Line More Active

Thomas agrees with Hull, but hopes the offensive line has another good game in the storehouse.

"Dallas has a great front like Kansas City," Thomas said. "I think Dallas's front four is a little bit more active and aggressive than the Kansas City front four. The yards might be a little tougher, but hopefully the offensive linemen and center Kent Hull can make all the right calls and have some lanes opened up for me.

"I don't think we'll be able to accomplish what we accomplished last week. But, hopefully, we can get there to keep them off balance with the run and the pass."

Photos: Members of the Bills' offensive team, here surrounding the running back Thurman Thomas (34), were a wall in front of him against Kansas City as he gained 186 yards. (Kevin Rivoli for The New York Times) (pg. B11); Thurman Thomas picks his way through the line last week against the Chiefs. (Michael Okoniewski for The New York Times) (pg. B16)